brain attacks

A few days ago before the demise of FPJ, my friend's mother died of stroke. And last thursday early morning, another dear friend of mine lost a beloved father in the same manner.

Stroke, likewise called as brain attack, occurs when blood flow to a region of the brain is obstructed and may result in death of brain tissue. It is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States. If you want to learn more about it, visit this site: http://www.neurologychannel.com/stroke/risks.shtml

Of all the risk factors listed in the Neurology Channel, I am most afraid of atrial fibrillation. It occurs when muscles in the atria contract too quickly, resulting in an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). Arrhythmia alters blood flow and may cause blood clots to form in the heart. These clots can travel through blood vessels to the brain, causing stroke. Atrial fibrillation causes an almost five-fold increase in the risk for stroke.

I always experience irregular heartbeat. Sometimes it is too slow and sometimes it's too fast that you can honestly see my chest heave up and down in rapid succession. This lasts for a minute or two up to almost half an hour. It's too painful especially if it's too fast. I feel like my chest is going to burst open or my heart is going to explode. During these moments, i can hardly breathe. My doctors advised me to sit or better yet lie down because i could collapse. Now, I've realized that it could be much worse than that. I am 5x more likely to die of stroke than any drunkard or heavy smoker on earth!

Here are quotations about death that i find comforting...

:: I only remember two kisses - the first and the last. The first, with my love and the last, with death. The first brought happiness and the last relief!
--Srijit Prabhakaran

:: Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
--Isaac Asimov

:: A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.
--Charlie Daniels

:: If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.
--Isaac Asimov

:: Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.
--James F. Bymes

:: I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
--Winston Churchill

:: Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile.
-- Julie Burchill

:: I look upon life as a gift from God. I did nothing to earn it. Now that the time is coming to give it back, I have no right to complain.
-- Joyce Cary

:: Death is the opening of a more subtle life. In the flower, it sets free the perfume; in the chrysalis, the butterfly; in man, the soul.
--Juliette Adam

:: He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry